The Ox-Man-Tiger Hybrid of Medieval Heraldry

This is another redo of one of the really early office battles, but I feel if nothing else the Mantygre is worth resurfacing just cause it’s fun as sh*t to say! Plus the original battle predates Sneurat‘s founding of the seanist movement. It was long before cody and I had perfected our buddy ken’s upside down corn kernel head and E wizzle just drew beasts furiously masturbating (that btw is the only true censorship I’ve ever done and it was only cause it was really really really vivid!) Anyway… here’s the old ones

As for what exactly you’re drawing, it’s legend born form the ancient Indian belief that men could turn into tigers. You’ve seen in before on medieval crests, it’s got the body of a tiger or similar apex cat predator, has horns like that of an ox and its face appears to be that of a withered old man with a beard… now some folks will add the feet of a dragon into the mix, but I’ll leave that to your discretion because if my 1987 Caballero deck was to be believed, dragon feet and giant cat feet are pretty much the same anyways! So get drawing!

So I was gonna judge this week, then i realized how hard it was gonna be this week so I brought in my official fixer of decisions I dont wanna make, my wife, Mona! Many of you know her, Yoga teacher, occasional beast artist and longtime supporter of annoyingly quirky hobbiests! Her judgement is below and remember her word is law!

So there are 4 individual traits that I absolutely love here, first the crazy unnatural length of his arms and tail, two the half dead stare of something that will never truly listen, three the beard meant for another mans face and finally the mother f’ing doubled up umlauts!

Judge’s Commentary – Well, despite my best efforts to remain aloof about cats and “cat people” (the irony of my cat like lack of enthusiasm here isn’t lost on me), this Mantygre Crest really spoke to me. Could I possibly relate more to cats and cat like beasts then I’d prefer to admit? Lets break it down:

1) Meow Purr – beginning with the use of umlots here, which to me, gives the average word a certain amount of added “oomph” that I’m drawn too…Mantygre means business and what he’s saying is: MEOW (Yes, this IS what I want) and PURR (I LOVE IT). Gotta respect and admire the simplicity of the Mantygre’s sentiment here.

2) The friend beard – This isn’t any old cat man, this is the cat man of my people. These days my bearded friends seem to outnumber my less… hirsute friends, therefore, logic says this cat would probably be a friend of mine if our paths were ever to cross. Dammit.

3) The vacant gaze – See that look? That’s the EXACT same blank stare I have when you tell me something I don’t want to hear. Could this cat be more like me than I care to admit? I dunno, put me next to this crest when you start telling me how to properly slice a carrot, and make the comparison yourself!

4) Ball of yarn/tongue combo – The yarn makes Mantygre more catlike then his beard lets on, but still I find myself relating…The yarn, to me, signifies the desire to “play” with something, ANYTHING, rather then be told what to do. The tongue confirms this. Think about it, there are really only a few reasons we stick our tongues out…rasberries, catching snowflakes, tasting something or…to aid us in focusing on something we’re working on. In this case I feel like the tongue falls into the latter category saying, “I’d rather focus on tossing this ball of yarn up and down obsessively then listen to what your saying.” And to this final statement I say, Amen!

Action Pose and tiny genitals?!! Man you’re spoiling me! Somewhere on earth, someones softball team’s t shirts just got a hell of a lot better! And the lil claws on the back feet make me chuckle every freaking time!

Judge’s Commentary – What can I say here? Drawn, tiny genitals are really freakin funny, EVERYTIME. As are the withered, slightly flailing, tiny tiger legs. Combine those two elements, and toss in the strong jawline that reminds me of the cartoons era my parents enjoyed, AND make it an action shot…and you’ve got the makings for a submission that came very close to being my #1 choice. Nice work here.

Dammit I love when they’re open mouthed! It opens up so many plot opportunities… like maybe he’s just sloth-like yelling “Hey you guys!” out over the abyss? or maybe as his beard suggests he’s midway through his people’s signature phrase of “snarf”? Also, those eyes is creepy!

Judge’s Commentary – This Mantygre seems to be enjoying himself more then most, which I appreciate. The open maw and wide eyed enthusiasm for whatever perch he seems to be clinging too, made me instantly chuckle. And again, with the “friend beard, ” which seemed to sway my judgement this week. Also, a little bit, the first thing I thought of when I looked at this submission was, “what’s this mancat digging his claws into?” And being somewhat familiar with the habits of most common housecats and there owners, I inevitably imagined that it had attached itself lovingly to the head of it’s human doppleganger. And when my mind wanders that much from one drawing, you’d better believe that you’re going to rank as one of my top three picks!

Ha! Good old man-nerisms! I’m curious what youthful indiscretion caused such a reaction… and I’m intrigued by the wearing pants below the tail line… not very old man?… but maybe that’s the wild cat in him?

When you look at the obvious strength and virility embodied by this beautiful beast of lore you can really understand why families thought it such an important addition to their crests… or maybe it was just meant to lower expectations to a more reasonable level 😉

Dammit I knew i was wrong about your fur-wearing trout wearing a dickie! It was a cod piece!!! Now this guy’s super intense kinda what an acid dropping observer might have seen had Carl Brutananadilewski gone to the Judas Pries show in from Heavy Metal Parking lot…

“The most ferocious, withered man-faced kitty in the midwest.” – It’s Possible I’ve turned this guy the wrong direction, He was adorablly playful upside down but i find him nearly uncontrollably adorable when my brain can register his lil pouty, top lip forward, frown!

Hey that’s a humorous cane if i ever did see one! Gotta love the old man style cinch waisted pants, I love that even mythical beasts are wearing bad guy wireframes now and I’m relatively confident those are Grover’s arms and if so, there’s probably velcro on the palms for the most thorough hugs of!

My favorite part is that it looks a lil like he’s doing some odd leg lifting oh my god I have to pee dance That or he’s just standing on one of those famed invisible hills! Especially good fangs this week btw!

“His name Joseph. He has depends sticking out of his grandpa pants with his necktie tucked in.” – Sound like he’s a gramped out beast who knows how to be comfortable in this modern age! I’m entertained that wire-frames seem to be making a strong comeback in mythical beast drawing circles!

You know while it ignores almost all of the descriptors, he looks awful turtly, his head looks sorta like a ween and his wings are upside down so I almost have to cheer for this guy… and are his hands up in a “whoah wasn’t me” fashion? Cause that makes it even better!

Ha,I like this! Feels like one of those mornings just jam packed full of questions, like how did I get here? am I wearing a tiger costume? is my leg horribly broken? And out of curiosity, is this how a naughty kitty sounds?

I’m not quite sure how it works but somehow you’ve magically captured the essence of a shrunken head apple carving in a bar drawing of a Mantygre, so intended or not I’m pretty sure you deserve props for it!

Here’s one of those life dilemmas that I just cant answer, does something this badass have to be continually grumpy to continue to be badass? Does the weight he lifts each day to keep such a presentation end up to really be his own inner sadness?… Also yet another great tiger butt!